This is a discussion on Rawr... My 2011 STi Build Log within the Builds forums, part of the Tech & Modifying & General Repairs category; I am writing this build log with two things in mind. One, I wish to document things I've done to ...

Rawr... My 2011 STi Build Log

I am writing this build log with two things in mind. One, I wish to document things I've done to my car (obviously). Two, this community has helped me a lot - I hope to add enough of my install tips and impressions of everything I've done for use to others.

Please add your thoughts or impressions as I go through this, I'd appreciate it and it would make it a more well rounded reference to others.

Filled it up with the dealer in the car at 7 miles on the odometer. Picked it up from the dealer with 8 the next day.

Disclaimer: I like lots of words and big pictures. Small pictures annoy me, and the page down button always works. I figure these are being hosted on another site, and we are out of the 28k/56k/'stone age' era by now =).

Attached Thumbnails

Last edited by Heide264; 11-08-2012 at 11:25 AM.

Originally Posted by Trainrex

He was throwing balloons filled with sulfuric acid and shrapnel at the swat team. They finally had to take him down with rubber bullets.

I was excited about my axle back. I thought the factory exhaust note was way too quiet, and I couldn't tell what my engine was doing when my dad would play with the radio.

Install: ...Went as planned. I rolled the car up on ramps (for the first time), took out the two bolts that connect to the mid pipe, and then worked the exhaust hangars off. The exhaust hangers were trickier than I thought honestly. Then maneuvered the new muffler on. Took a bit mroe work than expected overall (no surprise), but was the first bit of work I've ever done on a car outside of audio stuff.

Impressions: I love it. It's just about perfect. I would have liked it a bit louder honestly, but the general public and the female race would have liked it a bit quieter. Little more balls at idle and when romping on it, but quieter when the engine isn't under too much load. No complaints. Quality of the product is excellent. I will buy from Nameless again, no questions asked. Mid pipe should be around the corner =).

Some pictures of the installed exhaust tips I had sitting around:

Originally Posted by Trainrex

He was throwing balloons filled with sulfuric acid and shrapnel at the swat team. They finally had to take him down with rubber bullets.

very nice! It's a extra rewarding feeling when you do the work on your own car also, i don't know if it's just me, but with the exhausts I've put on my two cars they seem to get a little louder over time.

**edit**
Looked online a little bit. The mufflers will get broken in after a little driving and the sound will change. Hopefully to the level that you are hoping for

very nice! It's a extra rewarding feeling when you do the work on your own car also, i don't know if it's just me, but with the exhausts I've put on my two cars they seem to get a little louder over time.

**edit**
Looked online a little bit. The mufflers will get broken in after a little driving and the sound will change. Hopefully to the level that you are hoping for

It's been on for over a month now. I'm just going back through and commenting on past installs for sake of completeness/reference. I did notice a change over the first 1k miles with the stock exhaust. I'm not sure whether that was due to the muffler breaking in or other components. I haven't noticed a large difference over the course of a month. That being said, if I had a recording from when I put it on, and a recording from today... it may sound noticeably different. Day to day, it was nothing radical. Still sounds great though, and very happy with it.

Keep in mind, I got the hatch version. The sedan version doesn't have a muffler due to the different acoustics between the models. I can't voice my opinion for the sedan one.

Originally Posted by Trainrex

He was throwing balloons filled with sulfuric acid and shrapnel at the swat team. They finally had to take him down with rubber bullets.

After fighting for a week or so with RomRaider and my Tactrix cable, I finally realized my definitions were put in incorrectly. After fixing, I picked up a can of MAF cleaner to start with a clean slate, and flashed a base map from Mikey.

Even though it was simple enough for even me to figure it out, I've failed miserably at installs other people said were cake. I'll throw some pictures up of the MAF cleaner I used (not sold at walmart, got it at advanced), where the MAF is located under the hood, and what it looks like when pulled out (and what I sprayed).

I wasn't expecting a performance gain or anything out of cleaning the MAF. I just wanted to eliminate any potential problems that could arise from a dirty one when tuning. Only took me 15 minutes, tops, and may have saved the tuner and myself hours of work.

EDIT: Thanks to Donkey for the comment. I actually have the IAT labeled with the pink arrow. The MAF is up inside the tube. I have corrected the image, but it doesn't appear to be updating.

Cleaner:

Location on airbox:

MAF pulled out:

eTuning with Mikey:

Reasoning: There aren't too many good tuners close by my area. After reading around, Mikey (I can give you his contact info if you are interested) fit my situation pretty well. He was very laid back with everything, but very quick about getting new maps and feedback to me. I would recommend him to anybody. The only thing being that you want to get your tactrix cable working first. The few other eTuning options I found were very pricey. Mikey was a flat rate and very nicely priced.

Results: Power band is much smoother now. No longer feels as 'tempermental'. I'd say aside from the performance increase and the power band, I really enjoyed the new throttle mapping. He redid sport to allow for full throttle response, but kept the linear feel. The car is still a lot of fun to drive, but much more predictable. I have a much easier time rev matching now with the remapped sport mode. Once again, I'd recommend Mikey to anybody.

Last edited by Heide264; 06-08-2011 at 07:27 AM.

Originally Posted by Trainrex

He was throwing balloons filled with sulfuric acid and shrapnel at the swat team. They finally had to take him down with rubber bullets.

At this point in my build, I 'took advantage' of a 6MT Super Shift Kit group buy hosted by turninconcepts. I also bought every bonus option I could applicable to my car. Plus some cross member bushings that were out of stock and coming soon.

So, here is it all spread out on the table and notated. My photobucket editing skills are limited. If I was smart, I'd just edit them before uploading, but they are straight off my phone.

Originally Posted by Trainrex

He was throwing balloons filled with sulfuric acid and shrapnel at the swat team. They finally had to take him down with rubber bullets.

So funny story about these. I thought maybe TiC just sent me the very rear ones (the rear two of the rear subframe bushings.. confusing). I did not realize they were stuck together in pairs. I accidentally put both of them in before realizing I had put two in while doing the other side. I dropped the other side, fixed it, then realized I had to jack up the subframe to get the bolt to thread back in safely. I got it, was a bit nerve wracking though.

Make sure you do this install with the rear suspension loaded. I tried it on ramps, but I think the car needs to be level... might have luck if you jack up the front of the car to be even with the ramps. I just left it on the ground and did some squirming. It wasn't too bad once I realized this.

There are 4. This isn't an install guide, but I will post some pictures in case they are of any use.

Impressions: Took out some driveline slop when you start/stop. Hard to describe. No noise or vibration added or anything. Just less front to back bouncing. Considering the ease of the install and the low price, I would recommend these.

Whiteline makes ones that actually insert inside the bushings from the top and bottom. To install these, you need to drop the entire subframe and jack it back up to bolt it back together. I'm sure they would make more of a difference, but I had a discount on these, and they filled in those voids on the 2011s from what I gather anyhow.

Overall, two thumbs up =).

Originally Posted by Trainrex

He was throwing balloons filled with sulfuric acid and shrapnel at the swat team. They finally had to take him down with rubber bullets.

No pictures for this one. Install went as planned. Hardest part being wrestling the TMIC back into it's spot. If anybody has any suggestions to help maneuver that thing, I'd appreciate it. That turbo connection is evil. I will buy a spare silicon tube next time it's out, just in case I rip it.

Torque spec's were right out of the service manual. 38 or so on the engine side, and 43 or so on the firewall.

Impressions: Once again, less driveline slop. I also feel more connected to my engine =). It's not really much more noise, but there is noticeable (good) vibrations when you lay into the throttle. I'm really happy with it. It kind of reminded me of the bug eye I rode in a while ago. Less fluff and more 'raw'. I would probably suggest it, even if you don't like noise/vibration.

Originally Posted by Trainrex

He was throwing balloons filled with sulfuric acid and shrapnel at the swat team. They finally had to take him down with rubber bullets.

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